Every day is a new adventure in the Adelie Penguin breeding colony at Cape Royds, Ross Island, Antarcitca. Our colony has about 2000 breeding pairs of Adelie Penguins and there are two of us who live in a tent about a quarter mile from the nesting sites. Dr.David Ainley who is a world authroity on Adelie Pneguins and the principal investigator for the research team that monitors several colonies on the island and Jean Pennycook , an educator, who shares Dr Ainley's work with the world.

Along the way to work each day we pass Shackelton's hut built in 1908 which is now a world heritage site and being renovated by the New Zealand's Antarctic Heritage Trust. Besides Adelie Penguins, we see Emperor Penguins, seals, whales, skuas and snow petrels at Cape Royds. In the background is Mt Erebus, one of three volcanos on Ross Island and the only active one. Follow along with our stories as the season progresses. We welcome your comments and questions.


Here are links to our web-based penguin activities.

Click here for additional information about Adelie penguins and how they are coping with climate change. Click here for additional activities you can do in your classroom.

Questions about this page? Email me.

Jean Pennycook penguin_letters@yahoo.com


Map of Ross Island showing the penguin colonies in our research study.

Cape Royds Adelie Penguin breeding colony.

 

These are daily stories from Cape Royds Adelie Breeding Colony on Ross Island, Antarctica. If you would like to follow penguin families 'live from the field' as they raise their chicks go HERE.

Click on any picture to see a larger version
 

Jan 16 , 2012

 Siblings. Notice the difference in the size of these nest mates. One may have hatched much sooner or one may be more aggressive getting food. As I watched this nest, both chicks were getting fed, but the larger one was getting more as it could reach the parents beak easier, was stronger and could reach higher. We will not know if the smaller one makes it. He will have to grow in a hurry to make fledging weight and size before winter comes.

This concludes the 2011-12 Adelie Penguin breeding season at Cape Royds. Please come back in Nov of 2012 to see a whole new season, more pictures and stories. Contact us at penguin_letters@yahoo.com

 

Jan 14 , 2012

 Naked Peguin. An interesting chick in the colony. He has no feathers on his front side or head and the feathers on his back are small.. We are worried about how he will survive unless he grows his adult feathers. You can see the places where the feathers should be and you can see his ear. He seems to be thriving well, but will not be able to survive the cold without the protection of his parent. We will follow him as long as we can.

Jan 15 , 2012

 Skua Nest. I have passed this nest every day for the last few weeks. Finally the first egg has hatched. This chick is one day old. The second egg has a small hole in it and I can hear the chick peeping. Many of the Skua chicks do not make it through the first couple of weeks, but these aggressive predators live to be 40 years old so there are many opportunities to raise a family.

Jan 12 , 2012

 Disciplining the Children. Sometimes chicks wander off and when they do the neighbors will peck at them. When this happens, they can get disoriented, not be able to find their way back to the nest and become lost. This parent has decided one way to keep her chick under control is to put him between her legs and sit on his head.

 

Jan 13 , 2012

 Buried Nest Update. An update on the story of Jan 8. We have been watching this nest over the last few days to see how the birds managed with the large amount of snow fall. The adult pulled himself out on the 8th and then over the next few days the hole widened. The parents were able to feed the chicks through the hole and as of today we feel the chicks will be able to get out of the hole themselves so we are no longer worried about this nest.

Jan 10 , 2012

 Time to Give Up. This pair has been taking turns nesting these eggs for over 53 days. For some reason they did not hatch. They may have gotten cold, were not fetilized, or something else was wrong. It is time to give up. They continued to sit the nest as all the other eggs around them hatched. Today the parent on the left got up to exchange with the returning parent on the right, but neither one sat back down on the eggs. Ten minutes later the eggs were gone to the Skuas.

 

Jan 11 , 2012

  Oldest Chick. This is the oldest chick I know of and was probably hatched on Dec 13. That makes him almost one month old. He is very large and you can see the adult feathers starting to come in around his head. There is a nest mate who is as large, but so far I do not see adult feathers on him. Notice the chin will be white as in the picture below for the first year of his life. Next year at this time he will molt again and get the adult black chin.

Jan 8 , 2012

 Buried in the Snow. After our recent snow storm, some of our nests were buried. This parent is on a chick and protected it from the storm with her body, but now finds herself buried in snow. Not a problem for the adult, within a few minutes she pulled herself out, but the chick will stay in the hole until the snow melts. The parents will still be able to feed the chick through the hole, so we are not worried.

 

Jan 9 , 2012

  The Yearling. This bird may not look like the other Adelie penguins at our colony but he is one. This is a one year old. When chicks get their first set of adult feathers they have a white chin. Only after their second year of life do they get the black chin as you see in the picture below and the others on this page.Yearlings rarely come to Cape Royds, as they are too young to breed. In six years this is only the second one I have seen.

Jan 6 , 2012

 Dinner Time! We get many questions about what the penguins eat. The only way we know is by watching what they feed the chicks. If it's orange, it's krill, if it's gray it's fish. Today a young parent regurgitated more food that her chick could eat so a pile of it was near the nest. You can see most of it is krill, the small shrimp like creatures with black eyes, but there is also some fish matter in there as well. If you want to read more about penguin diets and how we know this, go HERE

Jan 7 , 2012

 All Ashore! Look at the picture for Jan 3 below and you see how penguins go into the water. Here is what they look like when they come ashore. Notice how sleek their feathers are. Compressed against their bodies, the feathers keep these Antarctic penguins warm and dry in the sub freezing water of the Ross Sea. The water here is -1.6oC, which is below the freezing temperature of fresh water. It doesn't freeze because of the salt content.

Jan 4 , 2012

 First Skua Chick. These precocious chicks do not receive the constant protection from the parents that the penguin chicks get. Both parents are out looking for food and the chick is left alone. As I walked close, however, one of the parents flew back so from a distance they keep their eye on him. This chick is probably 2 days old.

Jan 5 , 2012

 Only a Mother Could Love. This chick is in the awkward stage of growing up. Most of his body is his stomach which the parents must constanly fill up. Adelie Penguins multiply their birth weight 30 times in 50 days, which is an incredible rate of growth. The fluffy chick feathers keep them warm, but are not water proof. After today's storm many of the chicks are wet and cold like this one.

Jan 2 , 2012

 Frozen in Time. In 1907-09 the British Antarctic Expedition, also known as the Nimrod Expedition, lived in a hut they built which is close to the penguin colony.The hut still contains much of the food, equipment and supplies of the original expedition. Here you can see some of the food they ate. It has been 100 years, but since everything stays frozen year round and there are no insects, mold or other pests, the food is still edible. To read more about the hut go to: http://www.nzaht.org/

Jan 3 , 2012

 Perfect Form. One nice thing about the water being so close to us is the ability to watch the penguins diving, jumping and swimming. Here you see a penguin diving into the water from about 4 ft. Notice the extreme hydrodynamic shape of his body. The body shape of penguins has been reported as the most hydrodynamic shape known and has influenced the design of manmade underwater vehicles and equipment. They do not use their feet to paddle like a duck, but use their wings to fly through the water as other birds fly through the air.

Dec 30, 2011

 You Go First. There are many cracks in the ice just off Cape Royds. For days they have been easy for the penguins to jump over or go around. Today the cracks are too big and the birds have to swim across. In this picture a group of penguins stood at the edge for several minutes. No one wanted to be the first to go. Then one took the lead, within 5 seconds they all went. There are no leoplard seals near Cape Royds, but the penguins don't know this. Jumping in the water is always a risky event, but that is where their food is.

Dec 31, 2011

 Ice Crack. It is summer in Antarctica, the sea ice around Cape Royds is breaking up. For the penguins this means there is more access to places where food has been hiding. This crack, heading south from the tip of the cape, has been opening up for several days and today we are watching penguins use it for feeding. The seals also enjoy these cracks and there are several groups of them along the length of this one.

Dec 28, 2011

 Skua Attack. Skuas hover over the nesting birds looking for opportunities to swoop in and take eggs or chicks. This one has it's eye on a small chick in the nest below. The Skua can hover for several seconds trying to get the adult penguin off balance so it will expose the chick.This nest is in the rocks which is good, but as you can see there are few penguins close by to help fend off the attack. Today the adult successfully fended off the Skua. Penguin 1, Skua 0.

Dec 29, 2011

 Late Egg. This chick is more than a week old. The second egg has not hatched and probably won't. If it did now, the second chick would be so much smaller than the first that it may not be able to compete for food. At some point there will not be room in the nest for both the chick and the egg. It will get kicked out, roll away and become Skua food very quickly. I will continue to watch this nest to see how long it takes for that to happen. There are many reasons for the egg not hatching, perhaps it was not fertilized, or got cold.

Dec 26, 2011

 Near Miss. While we are talking about feathers, here is a penguin we will call "Lucky." We do not know what happened, but it could be this is a near miss from the bite of a leopard seal. The seal got away with a mouth full of feathers, but the penguin got away! In a few weeks he will go through a complete molt and grow new ones so no serious harm. While he is swimming, this area will be wet and cold, but we hope he will be able to tolerate that until the new feathers grow in.

Dec 27, 2011

 Brood Patch. This adult Adelie Penguin is showing us the brood patch. This is the only part of the penguin's body not covered with feathers besides the beak and feet. It is exactly the size of two eggs or two very small chicks. The eggs and chicks are nestled in here to keep warm. It's the penguin's body that creates the warmnth, not the feathers.

Dec 24, 2011

 Penguin Trees. Just like the song birds need trees, these penguins need sea ice. This is where they live and much of their food supply lives underneath the ice. In some places around Antarctica, changes in the sea ice have caused these penguins to move. If you would like to read about how global climate change has caused Adelie Penguins to move you can go HERE.

Dec 25, 2011

 Penguin feathers are different from other birds and a major factor in how these birds cope with this environment. These specialized feathers keep them warm when they are on the ice, dry when they are in the water and contribute to how fast they swim. More dense than any other bird, Antarctica penguins are almost completely convered with them. Only the tip of the beak, feet and brood patch are feather free. Every year Adelie Penguins undergo a complete molt, losing their old feathers and growing new ones. During this time they can not feed as they would not be waterproof. Around Cape Royds there are piles of feathers, letting us know many of them go through their molting process here.

Dec 21, 2011

 Penguin Tracks in the Snow. A few days ago we had a gentle snow storm and afterwards the penguins had fun. In this picture you can see their walking tracks and sliding tracks through the fresh snow. Sometimes the penguins slide on their bellies, we call this tobogganing and it's faster than walking. The wide track is made by a penguin tobogganer, the others by walkers.

Dec 22-23, 2011

 Fishing in the Ross Sea. This Russian fishing vessel near the Ross Ice Shelf hit ice Dec 16. The crew on board is safe, and New Zealand air crew have dropped pumps and patching supplies onto the nearby ice. This boat is fishing for the Antarctica Toothfish which is sold worldwide as Chilean Sea Bass. A main food source for whales and seals, their numbers have declined in recent years, due to commercial fishing.The boat also carries fuel, which if leaks, would harm populations of penguins who live in the area. Read more about this event HERE.

Dec 19, 2011

 Sunday Nap. This warm Sunday afternoon found many penguins snoozing quietly on their nests. Penguins are like people in this way, or maybe it's the other way around! The three here are still on eggs so no rushing to the ocean for food yet !! When the chicks hatch, the real work begins, there will be less time for rest as hungry penguin chicks will require about 60 lbs of food to reach fledging size and weight in the next 50 days.

Dec 20, 2011

 Skua Family. This Skua pair has built their nest right in the middle of the penguin colony. Everyday I walk past the nest and wonder why the penugins do not go after these predators of their eggs and chicks. A Skua is no match for an adult penguin, but for some reason they don't. Skua are territorial and will attack any other Skua that come into their breeding or eating territory. This pair is very unhappy about me being there and will attack me if I linger too long or get too close.

Dec 17, 2011

 New Life. This is a common sight these days and for the next several days. A brand new chick with its parent. The shell near the nest is a clue that this chick has just hatched. With so much wind at Cape Royds the shells scatter quickly and then the only way we can know about new chicks is when the parent stands up to feed them. New chicks are nested tightly for the first few days. You can see the second egg just behind this chick. It may be a day or two before it hatches.

Dec 18, 2011

 Iciciles. Sometimes we spend so much time with the penguins we forget to seek the rest of the beauty here in Antarctica. On this day we came across a magnificant icicile hanging from a rock. It was 5 ft long and just barely dripping when we took this picture. December is the middle of summer and the sun is up 24 hours a day, and even though the temperature is below freezing there is some melting of the snow and ice.

Dec 14, 2011

 Taxi Anyone? When we go back and forth from McMurdo research station to our little camp at Cape Royds, this is how we travel. The National Science Foundation provides 5 helicotpers which support the scientific research projects in the Ross Sea Area. Today, this one brought us our mail and some food supplies.The landing pad is right in front of our tent so we don't have to carry things very far.

Dec 15-16, 2011

 Mr Popper's Penguins is a classic story about how a group of Gentoo penguins change the way a man thinks about life. It is now a major motion picture starring Jim Carrey and you can win a DVD of the movie by sending us a self addressed stamped postcard. See details HERE. Gentoo penguins do live in Antarctica, but we do not see them here. Mr Popper sent us a flag to fly at our Adélie breeding colony. This is the first time Gentoo penguins have come to Cape Royds.

Dec 11, 2011

 Curious Penguin. Many penguins are very curious and if you are still and quiet they will come up to you. This one explored my boots and laces with his beak before looking up at me. I could only wonder what he was thinking as we stood there quietly for several moments. I am 10 times bigger than he is and could easily hurt him, but he was not afraid.

Dec 13, 2011

 Mt Erebus, the southern most active volcano. Today we can not see the plume becasue the air in Antarctica is very dry. Inside the crater there is an active lava lake which produces lovely feldspar crystals as large as your finger. There is a group of scientists that work near the rim of the crater and study this amazing mountain. If you would like to learn more about Mt Erebus you can visit the website HERE.

Dec 9, 2011

 First Skua Nest. These birds are the main predators of the penguin eggs and chicks. Some of them make their nests inside the penguin breeding colony to be close to their food source. This one is particulalry close to the penguins. Today she has one egg, but they frequently lay two. Skua do not make much of a nest, just scrap out a small depression in the sand.

Dec 10, 2011

 Penguin Temper. This penguin is showing me that he does not like what I am doing or where I am standing. In addition to this posture, he is growling at me. When this happens, the best thing for me to do is back away or stay very still because the next move on his part will be to bite. Penguins have very strong beaks and a bite will hurt.

Dec 7, 2011

 Happy penguin. This penguin is in his element. On this day It was snowing in the colony and some birds are sitting tightly on their nests, others are cozy up in the rocks to keep out of the snow and wind. Just like people, these birds respond to changes in the weather differently, this one was out enjoying it. I watched for a few minutes as he stood here flapping his wings and preening his feathers. Snow does not bother him.

Dec 8, 2011

 Snow Petral. The only other bird we see here besides penguins and Skua, the Snow Petral. This lovely and fast flying bird is aptly named. It is snow white except the jet black eye and beak. These pigeon size birds live on fish and krill and make their nest in rock outcroppings on Antarctic Islands near the ocean. We see them more often when the winds are high and I have never seen one land. Catching them on film reguires a fast shutter and many tries.

Dec 5, 2011

 Skua Hunters. Penguins aren't the only birds on Ross Island that get studied. These two bird researchers, Terry Greene and Roger McGarry, from New Zealand are here to count the Skua population around Cape Royds. It's hard work and today it is cold and snowing. So far they have counted about 70 birds. Luckily not all the Skua predate the penguins, many of them live off fish from the ocean.

Dec 6, 2011

 Third Egg. Sometimes an egg will get loose from one nest and roll into another. In that case the nesting adults will try to incubate all three. But the brood patch (featherless area on the belly of the adults) is only big enough to keep 2 eggs warm. The third egg will get shoved out one side or another. In this picture we see a third egg that is half in, half out. Without being completely covered, it will not be warm enough to properly incubate. We fear it will not hatch.

Dec 3, 2011

 Walk to the Ocean. The walk from Cape Royds to the open ocean. You can see the dark line where the ice meets the sky. It's only about a mile, but for a penguin with short legs it can seem longer. The pile of ice near me is made from the action of the tide which shoves ice up against the rocks of the cape. The pressure makes the ice break and pieces jam into each other. Over time it piles up.

Dec 4, 2011

 Bowling for Penguins. Adelie Penguins build their nests about 1 meter apart measured center to center. They usually don't face each other otherwise, if they are a bit too close, they will peck. Only under certain circumstances do they all face the same way as in this picture. When the wind blows, penguins face into it so the wind flows over their body and nout under their feathers. This is similar to the water when they swim, the feathers keeping them dry in the water and warm in the wind.

Dec 1, 2011

 Young Parents. For some reason this pair is not nesting their egg. Maybe they are young and in-experienced. Like many first time parents they are not sure what to do. Antarctica is always cold and unlike other birds, who can leave the eggs for awhile, penguins cannot. I watched this pair for almost an hour, they played with the egg, moved it around, but never laid down on it. A few times Skuas tried to take the egg, but the parents successfully defended it. Then a particularly bold Skua came and took it. This pair will not have a chick this season.

Dec 2, 2011

 Skua Kitchen. Some of the Skua pairs in our colony have territories and seem to predate the same group of nesting penguins. When they take the eggs, they frequently take them to the same place to eat them. Here is one of those places right near the group with our #7 nest. We call it the Skua kitchen.

Nov 29, 2011

Searching for Bands. Being a penguin researcher is not always glamours. It is long hours walking the colony looking for banded birds, entering data into the computer and sometimes being cold. One of our researcher Dr. Katie Dugger in her element searching for banded birds at Cape Royds. Read more about Katie HERE.

 

Nov 30, 2011

 Fish Dinner. When penguins are not breeding and providing eggs and chicks for the Skua, these strong predators eat fish. Here you see a mated pair of Skua.One of them brought a fish in from the ocean to share with its mate. We are glad to see this because every fish eaten is one less penguin egg stolen. This pair hangs in the middle of the colony and may lay their eggs there, we will watch them.

Nov 27, 2011

 Dirty Birds. The day after the storm and the sun has come out. This means the new snow turns to mud and another challenge for the penguins. Some nests are very shallow and will catch the melt water. This will turn the eggs cold and they will not hatch. In this picture the pair lost the eggs in the storm, they must have rolled out of the nest or been kicked out as the birds tried to manage during the storm. Eggs in the open do not last long, there are many Skua in the colony this year.

Nov 28, 2011

 In 1907-09 the British Antarctic Expedition, also known as the Nimrod Expedition, used this hut in their pursuit of the South Pole. Led by Ernest Shackleton, the expedition reached a latitude of 88° 23' S, just 97.5 nautical miles (180.6 km; 112.2 mi) from the pole before having to turn back. The hut still contains much of the food, equipment and supplies of the original expedition. To read more about the hut go to: http://www.nzaht.org/

Nov 25, 2011

 Storm in the colony. Not all the breeding groups in the colony get hit by the storm equally. The group in this picture is in the path of the wind as it comes off the frozen sea and always get covered with snow. Eggs and chicks fall out of nests,it is a tough location to raise a family. Other groups are on the side of the Cape which is sheltered by winds from the South, these nests do better.

Nov 26, 2011

 Visitors. We think we have this place to ourselves, but sometimes a tour ship will arrive and take tourists to Shackleton's Hut, one of the historic huts on Ross Island. This one is a Russian icebreaker that has been turned into a tour boat. Not too many ships are able to get through these waters. They anchored themselves in the ice as you see it here to wait out the 2 day storm.
What Penguins do in a Storm. When a storm arrives at Cape Royds, penguins on nests have no choice, they hunker down to protect eggs or chicks and allow the snow to cover them. Other penguins like the ones in this picture find a snow bank to lay on which protects them from the wind. The snow builds up around them and they find themselves in a hole. After the storm is over the penguins are able to pull themselves out of the hole and walk away. The amount of guano we see lets us know how long the pengin was in the hole. The storm lasted 2 days so we suspect the penguin was here for about that amount of time.

Nov 22, 2011

They're Back. The Skuas have returned to Cape Royds. This pair has been in this nest location for many years and it is not far from the penguins. It will be a few days before they lay their eggs, but we already see the empty shells of the penguin eggs they have eaten.

Nov 23, 2011

 Friendly Spat. Sometimes penguins build their nest too close to each other and squabbles break out. In this case it was over some rocks that one neighbor felt belonged to him. The other bird thought they would look good on his nest so an argument started. Nothing too fierce, mostly beak jabbing and squawking. It was over in a few minutes.

Nov 20, 2011

Head in the Snow When it snows in the colony, penguins who are not on a nest lay down and let the snow collect around them. Sometimes they will stay like this for a few days untill the storm stops.

Nov 21, 2011

Lost Egg. When storms happen, trouble sometimes follow. Durring a snow storm at Cape Royds this egg rolled out of the the nest. The parents, both in the picture, either did not see it or did not know. Once the egg is out of the nest if freezes quickly and will not survive. This nest will only hatch one chick.

 

Nov 18, 2011

Waiting for the Females. This male has made a very nice nest out fo rocks and is waiting for a female to come join him. This display is nosiy and says" This is my nest, look at me, come on by for a visit."

Nov 19, 2011

View From Research Hut. Today is a brilliant day at Cape Royds and there is open ocean in front of us. This makes the penguins very happy as they do not need to go far for food. In the back is the continent of Antractica and the Royal Society Mountain Range.

 

Nov 16, 2011

From 30 000 Feet. When flying over Antarctica you can see that some glaciers are not standing still. These ice streams are called that because even though they are soldi ice they flow. Look carefully to see the lines in the ice.

 

Nov 17, 2011

Stubby Antarctica is a harsh place and penguins live a tough life. We do not know if this penguin had a close call with a predator, had a slip and fall or was born this way. No matter, it does not slow him down.

Nov 14, 2011

Visitors to the Cape. These adult Emperors did not breed this year otherwise they woudl be in their colony tending to their chicks. Emperor chicks hatch in Sept and by this time would be in the highest need of food.

 

Nov 15, 2011

Cape Royds Research Station. Today we move to our research station at Cape Royds very close to the penguins. OUr hut is a tent with a dmall propane heater to keep us warm and a solar panel to charge our computers, cameras and radios. It will be home for over 2 months.

 

Oct 28, 2011

First Nest of the Season. This male will go without food and water for several days, maybe longer. These are the early birds. They must protect thier pile of rocks from the neighbors and wait for the females to arrive. If they leave the nest for even a minuet the rocks will be stolen.

 

Nov 12, 2011

The First Egg of the Season. Today we see the first egg of the 2011-12 breeding season at Cape Royds.Some years the first egg is earlier, others it's a bit later. Why this happens is one reason we are here to study these remarkable birds.

 

Click on one of the titles below to read some of the past stories from Cape Royds.

 

What a Difference a Year Makes. Scientists use satelites to track the sea ice. The difference between 2009 and 2008 was surprising.

Nov 3, 2009

Storms and Snow Challenge the Penguins. This year there are more storms with more snow than other years. This makes the nesting process for the Adelies harder. See how they are coping.

Nov 11, 2009

Adelies Aren't the Only Ones With the sea edge so close, Emperor Penguins are coming onto the ice and walking towards Royds. They do not breed here, so what are they doing here?

Nov 14, 2009

 Fish Story Today we walk the ice crack and look for fish heads. What does this have to do with penguins?

 

Dec 8, 2009

Penguins 1 - Skuas 0 Penguins take revenge on a Skua who got too close. See who won.

 

Dec 12, 2009

New Life Comes to Cape Royds, Our first chicks of the year, see how they hatch!

 

Dec 18, 2009

Where Have All the Whales Gone? Commercial fishing in the Ross Sea is reducing the food source for the marine animals that live there.

 

Dec 24, 2009